stake (redirected from stakes)

at stake

Fig. ready to be won or lost; at risk; hanging in the balance. That's a very risky investment. How much money is at stake? I have everything at stake on this wager.

burn someone at the stake 

1. Lit. to set fire to a person tied to a post (as a form of execution). They used to burn witches at the stake.

2. Fig. to chastise or denounce someone severely or excessively. Stop yelling. I made a simple mistake, and you're burning me at the stake for it. Sally only spilled her milk. There is no need to shout. Don't burn her at the stake for it.

See also: burn

have a stake in something

Fig. to have something at risk in something; to have a financial or other interest in something. I have a stake in that company. I want it to make a profit. I don't have a stake in it, so I don't care.

See also: have

pull up stakes 

1. Lit. to pull up tent stakes to take down a tent in preparation to leaving. Let's pull up stakes and head home before the storm hits.

2. Fig. to end one's ties to a particular place; to get ready to move away from a place where one has lived or worked for a long time. Even after all these years, pulling up stakes is easier than you think. It's time to pull up stakes and move on.

See also: pull, up

stake someone or something out 

1. to position a person so that someone or something can be observed or followed. The cops staked the car out and made the arrest. Barlowe staked out the apartment building and watched patiently for an hour.

2. to position a person to observe someone or something. He staked his best operative out in front of the building. We staked out two men to keep watch.

See also: out

stake someone to something

to make a loan of something to someone. I will stake you to a hundred bucks if that will help. Jed refused to stake Tex to a loan.

stake something off

to mark out the boundaries of an area of land with stakes. The prospectors staked an area off for themselves. The prospectors staked off an area in which they would look for gold.

stake a claim to someone or something

Fig. to state or record one's claim on someone or something. (Alludes to marking off an area by pounding in wooden stakes.) she staked a claim to Jeff and told all her rivals to stay away. The prospector staked a claim to the gold-rich area.

See also: claim

stake one's reputation on someone or something

to risk harming one's reputation on someone or something. Of course Denise is great. I will stake my reputation on her! It may be so, but I wouldn't stake my reputation on it.

See also: reputation

stake out a claim to something and stake out a claim on something

to lay claim to something. The prospector staked out a claim to the promising piece of land. We staked out a claim on two seats at the side of the auditorium.

See also: claim, out

up stakes

to prepare for leaving and then leave. (Up has the force of a verb here. The phrase suggests pulling up tent stakes in preparation for departure.) They just upped stakes and left without saying good-bye. It's that time of the year when I feel like upping stakes and moving to the country.

See also: up

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go to the stake  (mainly British)

if you say you would go to the stake for a belief or principle, you mean you would risk anything in order to defend it

Usage notes: In the past, the stake was the wooden post to which people were tied before being burned to death as a punishment.

She believed passionately that the government were wrong on this issue and was prepared to go to the stake for her views.

pull up stakes  (American & Australian)

to leave the place where you have been living He pulled up stakes in Indiana and moved, permanently.

See also: pull, up

stake a/your claim

to make it clear that you want something, and that you think you deserve to get it (often + to ) Descendants of the original settlers are going to court to stake their claim to the land. In order to stake a claim for world prominence in astronomy, the university is building a huge new optical telescope.

See also: claim

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at stake

in danger of being lost About 3000 jobs are at stake if the company moves to another state.

pull up stakes

to leave the place where you have been living They lived in Los Angeles for several years before pulling up stakes for Nova Scotia.

See also: pull, up

raise the stakes

to increase in importance or danger Employees who lost all their pensions have raised the stakes for the company by going to court and filing a lawsuit.

Related vocabulary: up the ante

See also: raise

stake somebody out also stake out somebody

watch someone, often secretly A television news crew staked her out from a next-door neighbor's yard. For a week, police staked out the suspect.

See also: out

stake a claim (to something) also stake your claim (to something)

to show that you believe something is yours In recent years, several big stores have staked a claim to the wealthy shoppers in this area. Stevens has staked a claim to a new brand of techno music with a series of exciting concerts.

Etymology: from the idea of marking land that is not owned by someone with stakes (pointed sticks) to show it is yours

See also: claim

stake a claim (to something)

to announce that something belongs to you Every kind of group you can think of has staked a claim to space on the Internet.

Usage notes: also used in the form stake your claim: He staked his claim as a liberal.

Etymology: based on the literal meaning of stake a claim (to mark with posts a piece of land belonging to the government that you claim for yourself)

See also: claim

stake out something

1. to claim something belongs to you To avoid a long wait to eat lunch, one of you stakes out a table and the other gets the food. Lars staked out a cot in a third-floor bedroom and tried to make it seem like his own space.

2. to secretly watch a place Private detectives staked out their house, went through their garbage, and interviewed their neighbors.

See also: out